Corpus Christi (city, Texas)

Corpus Christi (city, Texas), city in southern Texas and a port of entry on Corpus Christi Bay, just southeast of the mouth of the Nueces River. It is the seat of Nueces County, though some parts of the city are in Kleberg and San Patricio counties. It has a landlocked harbor connected to the Gulf of Mexico by Aransas Pass, a break in the string of low sand islands stretching along much of the state’s coast. Smaller vessels ply the Intracoastal Waterway between the islands and the mainland.

The city is a major shipping point and an important center of petroleum and natural-gas processing. Other manufactures include primary and fabricated metals, electronic equipment, and processed agricultural goods. Aircraft repair and maintenance and commercial fishing are also important industries. The city is the site of the large Corpus Christi Naval Air Station and a United States Army depot. The area is served by the Corpus Christi International Airport.

Corpus Christi includes a campus (established in 1947) of Texas A&M University and a community college. The city is a major tourism center and a gateway to Padre Island, much of which is a national seashore. Other attractions include a museum of science and history, part of the Bayfront Arts and Science Park; the Texas State Aquarium; the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier famed for its participation in World War II (1939-1945) and now a naval museum; and the Corpus Christi Seawall, designed by Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore.

The area was originally inhabited by the Karankawa peoples and other Native Americans. Colonel Henry L. Kinney founded a trading post at the site in 1839. During 1845 and 1846 it was used as a military base by General Zachary Taylor, who later became the 12th president of the United States, and it became a transportation center during the Mexican War (1846-1848). Corpus Christi was incorporated as a city in 1852, and grew as a farming and ranching center. Beginning in 1862, during the American Civil War, the port was blockaded by Union gunboats and it fell to Union troops in November 1863. The construction of a deepwater channel to the Gulf of Mexico in 1926 opened the port to oceangoing vessels and spurred the growth of industry. The city is named for Corpus Christi Bay, which, tradition holds, was sighted and named by Spanish explorer Alonso Alvarez de Piñeda on the feast day of Corpus Christi in 1519.

Corpus Christi covers a land area of 401 sq km (155 sq mi), with a mean elevation of 11 m (35 ft). According to the 2000 census, whites are 71.6 percent of the population, blacks 4.7 percent, Asians 1.3 percent, Native Americans 0.6 percent, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.1 percent. The remainder are of mixed heritage or did not report race. Hispanics, who may be of any race, are 54.3 percent of the people. Population 231,999 (1980); 257,453 (1990); 277,454 (2000); 285,267 (2006).